


The origin of Zeva Emerald

by Chromite



Series: Pearl Fight Club [7]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Books, Bookshelves, Dataplates, Destabilizer, Elevator, Gem Powers, Giant ship, Library, Living Quarters, Origin Story, Tools, Training, Wires, argument, descriptions of OC Gems, hallways, laboratory, metal, outfit change, piloting, stepping stool
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-07-20 12:10:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19991974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chromite/pseuds/Chromite
Summary: A look at the backstory of Zeva Emerald and how she came to become the ring master of swords.





	1. A new Pearl

>Clouds of dust billowed through the lab as the artificial incubation wall came crumbling down, chunks of green stone rolling along the floor. A short distance away, shielding her green nose gem from the debris, was Peridot cut 7NGX, smiling widely.  
>"Finally, the Pearl for Emerald cut 3VE has emerged." Peridot 7NGX spoke as she pressed a button on a nearby console, sending out an automated message to the Emerald in question. She then turned her attention back to the cloud of green dust, starting to settle down to reveal the Pearl within.  
>The Peridot's smile disappeared as she caught sight of the Pearl within. Her skin was a shade too dark, a darker green than the skin of the Emerald she was intended for. Her leotard was the wrong color, a lighter blue. Her stockings and shoes were a dark black, the frills on her shoulders and waist were a transparent black, her gem placement was wrong, it was on the top of her chest instead of at the naval like it should be. Her eyes were a dark blue, and her hair was shoulder length, black with streaks of dark blue that matched her eyes. But the most noticeable thing was how tall the Pearl was standing, a full half body taller than she should have been.  
>"Stars, no no no! What went wrong here, I mixed the solution as indicated, I incubated her in the right stone type and the right wall thickness, her incubation time was correct......why does she look like this?!" Peridot 7NGX cried out in frustration.  
>The Pearl tilted her head in confusion as she looked down at the panicking green gem. "Is....what's wrong? Are you my master?" she whispered out in a soft tone.  
>"Stars no I'm not your master, and you won't SEE the gem that was intended to be your master! You came out wrong, you must be recycled!" Peridot 7NGX grabbed a destabilizer off the table and began approaching the Pearl with determination in her eyes.  
>The Pearl began to back away in fear. "No, no please, I can, I can be of use! Let me be of use, please!" Tears began flowing down her eyes as her back pressed against the ruined remains of the artificial wall she had emerged from.  
>Peridot 7NGX raised her hand up to bring the destabilizer down upon the form of the Pearl. She was about to strike when the sound of the laboratory's door sliding open drew her attention. At first she snarled at the interruption, but then she gasped as she saw who was standing in the doorway.  
>Standing in the doorway was Emerald 3VE, her gem shining at her naval, her hair pressed flat on her head and coming down to her shoulders, her body covered in a green jump suit with two yellow shoulder pads sticking out, and her brows adorned with the traditional Emerald crown. The Peridot did her best salute, "E-emerald 3VE! St-stars, I a-apologize miss, b-but your Pearl came out-"  
>"Yes yes my Pearl, that's why I'm here! Let me see her!" The Emerald stepped into the room with a smile. Her face fell as she caught sight of the destabilizer in the Peridot's hands, and then looked at the Pearl, seeing the fear on her face as her eyes darted between the Peridot and the destabilizer.  
>"Peridot.....why do you have a destabilizer in your hands?" Emerald 3VE's voice was stern, the tone sending a wave of fear through Peridot's form.  
>"I, I was going to p-poof the Pearl! J-just look at her, she's wrong! She doesn't look like what you wanted!"  
>"Tell me Peridot, who was this Pearl made for?"  
>Y-you my Emerald, but-"  
>"Who's going to be the one to show her off and use her?"  
>"Y-you again my Emerald, howe-"  
>"So WHY did you think it was okay to try and poof MY Pearl without letting ME see her first?"  
>"You, she's defective! She's taller than you, she's the wrong colors! Do you really want her, my Emerald?"  
>A smile crossed the Emerald's face. "Yes, I do. I want her Peridot. I don't care if she's taller than me or looks off. Now put the destabilizer down and step aside."  
>Body shaking, the Peridot sat the destabilizer down and did what she was ordered to do. The Emerald walked right past the Peridot and up to the Pearl, her head coming up to the Pearl's gem. She admired the deep green color for a moment before looking at the Pearl directly in the eyes, seeing the fear that was still in them.  
>"You will be my Pearl. You are to follow my orders exactly. Failure to do so will get you broken. Is that clear?"  
>The Pearl looked down at the Emerald in disbelief, her body shaking as she nodded. "Y-yes my Emerald."  
>The Emerald smiled at her Pearl. "Good, then come with me." She then turned her attention to the Peridot. "Peridot, you may file that I accepted my Pearl and had no issues with how she looked." With that, she turned and walked towards the door, the tall Pearl following behind her.  
>As the door closed behind the tall Pearl and the Emerald, Peridot 7NGX let out a sigh of relief. "Stars, Emeralds can be scary when they want to be! If she wants a defective Pearl, that's her business." The Peridot began typing at her console.  
>Meanwhile, the Pearl and Emerald 3VE made their way through the hallways and towards the landing docks for ships. Emerald 3VE made her way over to a large green ship, shaped like a giant boot, the paint faded in several spots to reveal the silver metal beneath. The Pearl grimaced as the toe of the boot slid open, a ramp extending down to the floor in front of them. Wordlessly, the Emerald proceeded up the ramp, the Pearl following behind.  
>The pair passed door after door as they made their way through the ship, down the corridor to the main elevator shaft. Emerald 3VE remained silent as she entered the elevator and waited for the Pearl to join her. The Pearl shook as she entered the elevator, the space making them squeeze close together. Emerald 3VE pressed a button, and the elevator hummed as the small room ascended up the shaft.  
>When the shaft stopped moving and finally opened, the Emerald squeezed herself out and walked over to the pilot's chair, where a lone Peridot sat. The Pearl exited the elevator as she heard the Emerald order in a stern tone. "Peridot, start the ship, get us out of here and back into space."  
>"Yes my Emerald," The Peridot spoke with an enthusiasm that the Pearl found weird. The ship hummed to life around her, she could feel the ship moving as it left the station and made its way back into space.  
>A single thought went through the Pearl's mind as she stood near the shaft, waiting for a command. "Please, please let me be able to do what she wants me to. I don't want to be broken."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up, this particular story is going to be long, I can tell you that right now. This Pearl's story is one I've been meaning to write for a while, and I'm so excited to introduce her to the main Fight Club series and that I can finally get her backstory out there.


	2. A shocking turnaround

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Pearl is in for a surprise as the ship moves away from gem controlled planets.

>The large green boot shaped ship flew away from the planet, out into open space. Onboard, the new Pearl still stood silently close to the elevator shaft, keeping her eyes on her new Emerald master, who was sitting quietly in a dark green chair, watching the Peridot pilot intently. The Peridot herself let out a few quiet groans as she maneuvered the large ship around the other gem vessels that were in the area.  
>It was fifteen minutes before the Peridot managed to make it into an area open enough to jump without dragging something else along with her. As the Peridot input the jump command, the elevator shaft whirred, startling the Pearl and making the Emerald and the Peridot look over at the shaft with smiles.  
>When the elevator stopped humming and the doors opened up, the Pearl let out a gasp of surprise as she saw the figure within.  
>A single Sapphire stepped out of the elevator shaft, her hair was long and dark blue, brushed aside to display her one large eye prominently. Her attire was what really got the Pearl's attention, information in the back of her mind told her it was wrong, that Sapphires were suppose to be clad in dresses. This Sapphire wore a sleeveless blue shirt on her torso, the edges around where the sleeves would be were jagged, a small V cut into the collar to allow the gem at the top of her chest to shine in the light. Her legs were covered in white shorts, the legs ending right above her knees in the same jagged nature her sleeves were. On her feet were two thick boots, creating a heavy sound that echoed through the cockpit as she walked.  
>The Pearl got another surprise as the Sapphire spoke out. "Eve, we are now a safe distance away from gem controlled planets. There will be no communications for three days."  
>The Pearl's mind reeled with confusion. "Who's Eve? Why is it important we're away from gem controlled planets? What's a Sapphire doing onboard?"  
>Her confusion only deepened as she heard her Emerald master respond in a gentle tone. "Thank you Prophecy. Attraction, it's time." The Emerald and the Peridot both stood up from their chairs as the Sapphire continued walking towards the pilot chair. The Pearl's eyes widened as she saw the Emerald's naval gem and the Peridot's shoulder gem glow.  
>The outfits shifted around the pair. No longer were they wearing the traditional uniforms of Homeworld. Instead, the Peridot was now wearing a thick padded suit, clearly designed to help soften blows in combat. The Emerald, on the other hand, was now wearing a frilly green dress that swished with her now quickening steps, a small window at her naval for her gem, her golden crown and large shoulder pads had vanished away.  
>The Pearl pressed herself against the wall as she saw her Emerald closing in quickly. Her mind ran with terrible thoughts. "Oh no, I was suppose to do something, wasn't I? Did I miss an order? Was there something I should have known to do immediately? Stars, this is it, she's going to break me!"  
>The Emerald now stood a few feet away from the Pearl, her smile now gone. In a quick motion that surprised the Pearl, the Emerald took her hands in her own and knelt down. "Stars, I'm so sorry for how I spoke to you back around the Peridot, but I had no choice! Please, forgive me."  
>The Pearl stared in disbelief for a moment, before she finally fought through her fear and surprise. "M-master? I don't, why are you apologizing? You, aren't you mad at me for not....."  
>"Of course I'm not mad at you! Hold on, let me start over. Hi, I'm Emerald 3VE, known by my crew as Eve. The Peridot taking her time is Attraction, an excellent warrior in her own right." Eve motioned her hand towards the still approaching Peridot.  
>"But, I don't, why?"  
>The Emerald smiled as she stood. "My dear, my crew is very different from the standard practices of other gem vessels. Onboard my ship, gems are free to be who they want to be, free to choose their own roles and their own names."  
>Attraction spoke up as she finally caught up with Eve. "Captain Eve here thinks Homeworld is too limiting to gems, thinks we can prosper better when we decide our own fates. So far, she's been right, our crew has never suffered a single casualty since we started picking our own roles, nyehehe."  
>Realization started setting into the Pearl's mind. "So you all.....don't do what you're intended to do? Does that mean......?"  
>Eve nodded her head and smiled. "Yes, you get to choose your own role too. You will be trained in everything, of course, to keep your skillset balanced and to allow you to really feel what each job is like before you commit to one." her eyes widened as she realized something "Oh, Attraction! I forgot, the book of names is in storage! I meant to grab it and have it ready, but got the call about our newest crew member earlier than I expected. Will you please retrieve it for us?"  
>"Of course captain. I'll be back when I dig it out. Sit tight and enjoy yourself, soon to be named Pearl!" Attraction smiled as she moved to the elevator shaft and took the small enclosed room down.  
>"Master Eve, why don't you just tell Homeworld about your success? Surely they'd understand and adapt practices for other vessels."  
>Eve flinched a little. "You don't have to call me master. I don't even like being called captain, but that's a role that nobody else has stepped up to fill yet." Eve let out a light laugh. "Maybe YOU'LL be the one to take up the mantle!"  
>"M-me, a c-captain? Ma-captain Eve, I don't, I mean, a Pearl can't, shouldn't......"  
>"Relax, you don't have to be captain if you don't want to. You'll be taught about the roll only, like the others. Final choice will be yours. Oh, I know! Since we're waiting for the book anyways, why don't we start with a piloting lesson."  
>Prophecy looked back at the pair with a smile. "I had a feeling you'd say that captain Eve. I've already put the ship on autopilot to make the switch easier." She motioned to Eve and the Pearl as she stood from the chair. "Come on over, we'll get started."  
>The Pearl looked at Prophecy in confusion. "But, a ship only needs one pilot, won't you get upset if I-"  
>Prophecy raised her hand and cut her off. "My dear, I do more than fly the ship. I also fight in battles upon the ground. There's always the chance that I'll be broken and the crew will need a new pilot." her face lifted into a smile. "It's a good idea anyways, you never know when you'll need to fly an individual vessel on a mission, or maneuver an escape pod."  
>"Prophecy, is there something you aren't telling me?" Eve looked at the Sapphire and spoke in a concerned tone.  
>"I've told you before captain Eve, the future is never certain. I do my best, but even I can't see all possible futures."  
>Eve contemplated for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and sitting back in the chair to relax. "Okay, fair enough. Try to tell me if you do see something hazardous about the future, please."  
>"Of course I will, I would never allow anything to happen to the crew if I foresaw it coming. Now Pearl, have a seat please."  
>The Pearl complied, her body tensing up as she sat in the chair. Prophecy whispered to her gently. "Don't be nervous, you won't crash the ship. I'll make sure of it."  
>The Pearl looked at Prophecy wearily before she nodded in understanding. "O-okay, so how-"  
>"You stick your hands on the pads, and use your mind to steer the ship." Prophecy spoke before the Pearl could finish her question. The Pearl nodded as she complied with the instructions, and stuck her hands onto the pads. Numbers and information flooded her mind as the ship picked up on her gem and her presence. The ship itself lurched forward a bit as she took full control of the vessel.  
>"Gently now, focus on my voice, visualize the path that you want to take through space. Feel yourself and the ship become one." Prophecy continued speaking in a low and steady tone.  
>The ship itself wavered through space as it adjusted to the inexperienced gem's commands, jerking about a bit as it periodically lurched forward, veering to the sides a little with each small jump. The Pearl's body was still very tense as she tried to will the ship where she wanted it to go.  
>"That's it, you're going to get the hang of it. Relax yourself more, set your worries aside. As long as I'm here, you are safe, we are safe."  
>The Pearl's body began to relax as she got used to having the information in her mind. Slowly, the ship started jerking around less, moving at a more steady pace forward through space, staying on the intended course.  
>"That's perfect Pearl, you're a natural once you let yourself relax." Prophecy smiled as she whispered out. A vision of the Pearl piloting a small green vessel with ease passed through her mind. "With more practice, you'll be more than capable of piloting yourself and others through space." Another vision passed through her mind. "Put the ship back on autopilot now, Attraction will soon return with the book of names."  
>The Pearl focused her mind on engaging the autopilot. She felt the information and numbers flood out of her mind as the ship was released from her control. "Th-thank you for the lesson Prophecy. How do you.....stand all of that?"  
>Prophecy smiled as she resumed her place in the pilot seat. "You get used to it. With all the visions I foresee, a little data is like a drop in a great sea. See you soon for our next lesson."  
>The elevator shaft hummed once more, signaling the arrival of Attraction with the book of names. The Pearl looked at Prophecy one more time before turning towards the elevator. "Y-yeah, I'll.....see you soon I guess." The Pearl started making her way towards the elevator shaft.  
>The elevator slid open, revealing Attraction once more, a large book with metal embedded in the cover and the spine floating in front of her. She smiled as she saw the Pearl was already halfway to the elevator. "Prophecy let you know I was coming, didn't she? Nyehehe, she's always one step ahead of everyone." She then looked over to Eve and noticed she had closed her eyes. The Peridot shouted out to her captain. "Hey Eve, I'm back with the book! It's time for our newest member to choose her name!  
>Eve's eyes fluttered open as she stretched her limbs out and roused herself from her impromptu nap. She yawned once before standing up and moving quickly towards the elevator. "Already? I expected it to take longer to find the book. This is so exciting! Are you ready to pick your name out, Pearl?"  
>"Y-yeah, I......I hope it's not too hard to choose. How.....how did the other crew members choose their names?" The Pearl looked between Eve and Attraction with uncertainty.  
>Both gems shrugged their shoulders. Eve spoke up first. "I chose a name based on my gem cut code, but Pearls don't get those, unfortunately."  
>"I chose a name to match my metal powers. They developed shortly after my limb enhancers malfunctioned, and I haven't missed them one bit! Metal manipulation is useful in a fight!" Attraction demonstrated by letting the book slowly float down to the floor. "That won't be much use for you either unfortunately, you've not had time to find your powers."  
>"It's okay if you don't choose a name now Pearl, but go ahead and look through the book. Maybe something will stand out to you." Eve spoke in a quiet tone as she sat upon the floor nearby, Attraction following her example and sitting down as well.  
>Cautiously, the Pearl sat herself down upon the floor in front of the book. She grunted a little as she started to open the book, the metal embedded in the cover made it very heavy. Slowly, the cover opened, revealing a long list of names. The Pearl sighed as she scanned her eyes over them all, names and potential meanings displayed in front of her, in a random order.  
>As she read the names on the pages, she sounded a few in her head to try them out. "Abigale? No, what about Kaitlyn? Not right either, maybe Willow? No no NO none of these names seem right! They aren't me."  
>A few hours passed like this, the Pearl running through the names in her mind, Eve and Attraction sitting nearby, their excitement had began to fade. Eve herself was beginning to worry it was too soon. "Hey Pearl, remember what I said, you don't have to pick a name now if none of them seem right."  
>The Pearl let out a sigh of frustration as she turned one more page. "I'm sorry Eve, I might have to....wait, what's this one?" In the middle of the rightmost page sat a name, so simple and yet......the Pearl found herself drawn to it, found herself liking how it sounded in her head. A short distance away in the pilot seat, Prophecy cracked a smile. "So it was that one after all." she whispered out.  
>The Pearl whispered it aloud. "Zeva.....Zeva.....yes, I think.....I think this is it. It sounds.....right." tears of joy flowed down her cheeks as a sense of relief and purpose washed over her. She stood up slowly and smiled. "I want to be called Zeva. That will be my name."  
>Eve cracked a wide smile as she stood up and hugged the newly named Zeva. "Congratulations Zeva, now you're really one of us! Come, it's time to introduce you to the rest of the crew!"  
>With wide smiles, Zeva and Eve squeezed back into the elevator shaft and began their descent. Zeva was filled with excitement, no long feeling as uncertain of her place as she had been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A long chapter, but it shows quite a bit. Every crew member has a name, and Zeva just got part of hers. The other part won't come until later. Showing the start of her training in the various roles was important to tie in here too, and Prophecy......I'll explain why she's onboard in a later chapter.


	3. Lesson with the technicians

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeva and Eve arrive at a laboratory, where they meet the three main technicians aboard the ship.

>Zeva and Eve rode the elevator down a short distance before it slid to a stop and the doors opened. Eve stepped out of the shaft first, Zeva follwoing behind her. "Eve, that elevator ride was pretty short, is this the right place?"   
>Eve glanced back at Zeva and smiled. "It's the right floor, we only went two down. Not everything takes place at the ground floor and the cockpit area."  
>"Oh, I see."  
>"C'mon, we don't have far, they're at the end of the hall. Most of the rooms on this floor are for parts storage, with the largest room at the end serving as a laboratory." Eve spoke as she started walking down the hall, prompting Zeva to follow behind.   
>A sense of nervousness mixed with excitement filled the tall Pearl's form as she thought to herself "Laboratory? Like the one I emerged in? I hope there's not an angry Peridot waiting there. Attraction was.....nice, but that other Peridot was a nightmare." Zeva shook her head "No, Eve wouldn't lead me to someone like that. Don't let one experience ruin the rest."  
>The pair passed five lines of doors before they finally reached the door at the end of the hall. Eve opened the door excitedly. "Oh, I can't wait to see how they like you, it's been so long since we've had a new crew member join us."   
>"Yeah.....I hope they like me."  
>"They will, don't worry! I know your first experience in a laboratory was bad, but this one, and hopefully the rest, will be great!" With that, Eve pressed her hand to the panel upon the wall. Responding to her actions, the door slid open, allowing Eve and Zeva to enter the large laboratory.  
>Zeva took a moment to marvel at the laboratory around her. It was larger than the one she had emerged in. Along the lefthand wall sat tables lined with beakers, some sitting with strange liquids in hues of blue, purple, green, yellow, red, and orange. Tubes were laid carefully around them. Along the right was sat two tables, each one on a different side of a small pile of objects. Zeva could see the jagged bits of metal breaking away from the objects, could see strange colorful bits poking out along with the metal. The tables between the pile of broken objects and the beakers with liquids were covered in objects in various states of disrepair and construction, some tables were a mere collection of separated parts, while the tables closest to the beakers had devices that were almost intact, with only a few bits left around them.  
>Zeva was snapped out of her revelry by the voice of Eve. "Guuuuuuys! I brought you a new crewmember to meet! Come say hello!" Eve started walking towards the back of the room as she spoke. Zeva hesitated for a moment before she followed behind.   
>"A new pal? Yo you guys, stop working, we've gotta meet the newbie!" Zeva looked towards the source of the voice, spotting three figures, a short red figure, to her right was a tall purple figure a little more than twice the red figure's height, and to the right of the purple figure was a yellow figure, a few inches taller. The purple figure in the middle was nudging the other two with her elbows. The red figure was standing on a small stool to allow her to reach the table easier.  
>The red figure and the yellow figure put down the scraps of metal they had been holding before all three turned around, giving Zeva a full look at all three.   
>The red figure had dark red hair shaped like a large box upon her head, her gemstone sat in the middle of her forehead. A yellow visor say over her eyes, obscuring their color. Her body was clad in a long crimson lab coat, her legs covered in deep maroon pants that ended in a pair of thick boots. Zeva caught the briefest flicker of fire underneath the red figure's feet. A gem name came to Zeva's mind. "She must be a Ruby." she thought to herself.  
>The purple figure's hair was long and white, draping down her back and almost brushing against the floor. Her form was broad and powerful, her body covered in a dark purple lab coat. A purple gem rested on the back of the purple figure's right hand, Her legs were covered in a light purple skirt that drooped slightly below her knees. Her feet were covered in simple slippers that looked similar to what Zeva herself was wearing. Another name came to Zeva's mind, "This one is an Amethyst."   
>The yellow figure's hair was shorter than the other two, forming a sloped mohawk style that stuck out over her forehead. Like the other two, she also wore a labcoat, hers a light orange color, a small hole cut in the left side to allow her to reach her gem. Her frame was broader than the Amethyst's, her arms thicker, more powerful. Her legs were covered in a material that clung to her form tightly, running down from her waist to her toes, the yellow figure foregoing shoes and footwear entirely. One last gem name popped into Zeva's mind as she looked at the yellow figure. "A Topaz to round the group out."   
>The three gems smiled as they caught sight of Zeva, the three of them having to look up at her tall form.   
>"You're a tall beauty huh? Pleased to meet you, I'm Theta! We're gonna get along fine, I know it!" The Amethyst smiled as she finished speaking.   
>"H-hello, it's n-nice to m-meet someone new. I'm, my name is Dyna. I h-hope we can get along." The Topaz stuttered out as she rubbed her right hand along the back of her head.   
>"Looks like Eve brought in another interesting gem. I'm Ifrit, and I look forward to showing you everything I know. Do you have a name yet, Pearl?" The Ruby looked up at Zeva expectantly from the top of her stool.  
>Zeva looked between the trio before she smiled and offered her right hand out. "It's nice to meet you all. My name is Zeva, and I h-hope this experience will be better than my last one in a lab."   
>Ifrit took one of Zeva's fingers in her tiny hand and shook it. "I'm sure it will be an exemplary experience for you here. We'll show you what we know."  
>Theta took Zeva's hand next, careful not to squeeze the thin green hand too tightly. "Yo, we're gonna show you how to do EVERYTHING down here. Get ready girl, by the end, you'll be able to fix ANYTHING you want!"  
>Dyna was the last to take Zeva's hand, her large yellow hand shaking a bit as she did. "I-I'll do my b-best to s-show you a-anything these t-two forget." Dyna tried to pull away from the handshake early.  
>Zeva placed her right hand on top of Dyna's left hand, holding it in both her hands now. "It's okay if you're nervous, I'm a b-bit nervous myself. You'll do a good job showing me things, I'm sure."  
>Dyna cracked a nervous smile as she nodded, her body's shaking easing up a bit. "Th-thanks. N-nothing personal, it's just h-hard for me."  
>Eve spoke out to the group. "Zeva, these three are the best technicians aboard the ship, they're in charge of fixing any technology we have that gets broken. Theta, Ifrit, Dyna, please show Zeva the basics, okay?"  
>"I can't wait to get started! Girl's gonna be fixing things up in a storm when we're done" Theta spoke excitedly, rubbing her purple hands together.   
>"Her education will proceed at an accelerated rate posthaste." Ifrit grinned as she adjusted the visor on her face.  
>"I'll d-do my best c-captain Eve," Dyna spoke out more confidently than she had been before.  
>"I'll try and learn as much as I can here, thanks for agreeing to teach me you three."  
>"Well, I'll leave you to it! I need to go prepare your next lesson Zeva, so have fun with these three!" With that, Eve left the laboratory, leaving Zeva in the care of the three scientists.   
>As the door slid closed, Theta placed a hand on Zeva's right shoulder. "Alright girl, I think Dyna and Ifrit will agree with me here, the most important thing to learn is how to use the tools." she gives brief glances towards Dyna and Ifrit. "Right guys? Can't teach her about how to wire devices or repair panels or anything else until she understands all the tools."  
>"A practical approach, as always Theta. I concur, tools should be first." Ifrit begins pressing a few buttons on a nearby screen.  
>"Y-yeah, can't w-work without the proper t-tools." Dyna nods her head in agreement.  
>"What type of tools do you three use?"  
>"Your inquiry will be clarified in a accelerated manner forthwith." Ifrit spoke as her red hands finished moving along the screen.  
>Shortly after Ifrit stopped typing, a section of the floor to the left of the large table at the back of the room slid open, a small bin of neatly sorted tools of various sizes rising slowly up. The bin held screwdrivers, hammers, wire cutters, pliers, clamps, and wielding torch, all on the surface level.   
>"Simple t-tools first, d-dont want to o-overwhelm you Z-zeva." Dyna spoke as she grabbed a screwdriver and a pair of wire cutters.  
>"Yeah, these are the boring ones, but we all started somewhere!" Theta smiled as she grabbed a hammer and a pair of clamps.   
>"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Ifrit spoke in a lower tone as she grabbed a pair of pliers and a wielding torch. "Choose tools suited for your hand size Zeva, and we'll commence in the order of your choice."  
>Zeva made her way over to the bin before looking back at the trio of technicians. "Well, the container is closest to you Ifrit, so logically I should start with Dyna and work my way down to make storing things easier, right?"   
>Ifrit smiled as she nodded. "A logical observation. Splendid, I hope you're ready for her Dyna."  
>"S-sure, I'll go f-first." Dyna nodded her head in agreement.  
>Zeva picked out a set of tools that fit easily in her large hands then proceeded down the table. She sat the tools she had selected down to Dyna's right and looked at the large yellow gem expectantly. "So, which one first?"   
>"W-well, the screwdriver is p-pretty easy to use." Dyna's hands shook as she picked her screwdriver up, then grabbed a screw and a small piece of wood that was sitting on the table. "Y-you just tw-twist the screwdriver gently to tighten or loosen a screw!"  
>Dyna did a brief demonstration, twisting the screw into the wood tightly, boring a new hole as she went before she unscrewed it and let the screw clatter to the table. "N-now you try. M-make a new hole so you r-really get the feel for it."  
>Zeva slid the small scrap of wood and the screw over to herself before mimicking Dyna's movements. She strained her hands for a moment while trying to bore a new hole, before the screw started going into the wood easier.  
>"That's g-good, you got it! Now, the w-wire cutters." Dyna picked the wire cutters up along with a length of scrap wire. "Th-this is pretty easy t-too, just snip the w-wire after measuring it." Dyna punctuated her statement by snipping a little off the scrap wire, then handing it to Zeva. "Now you t-try."  
>Once more, Zeva mimicked Dyna's actions, snipping the wire in the middle and letting the end she wasn't holding hit the table. "This is easy, thank you Dyna."  
>"Y-you're welcome. Theta, you're up."  
>Theta looked over to Dyna as Zeva slid her tools and Dyna's down. "What, already? Well, I guess these will be pretty quick, until Ifrit anyways." She then turns her attention fully to Zeva as she picks up the clamps. "See these? These are fun little things that help hold stuff together firmly. Good for wielding or hammering when precision is key. Here, let me show you."  
>Theta picked up two pieces of scrap wood and clamped them together, then smiled as she grabbed a nail, tapped the head a few times with the hammer, then drew her arm back and drove it the rest of the way through. She laughed nervously as she looked at Zeva's wide eyes. "Hehheh, whoops. Normally you want to go slower than that with the nail, but you get the idea. Now you try!"  
>Zeva sighed as she grabbed two more pieces of scrap wood and copied Theta's actions with the clamps, placing the wood firmly within the clamp jaws. She then began to gently tap a nail into one of the pieces of wood with the hammer, smirking before she gave it a harder tap that drove it down an inch. "I can see why you like this, beating something is oddly soothing." Zeva whispered out.  
>Theta's eyes went wide a moment before she started to giggle. "Oh I like you! You're gonna be fun to hang around, I can tell."  
>Zeva's cheeks flushed a bit. "Thanks, and thanks for showing me how to use these."   
>With a smile, Zeva slid her tools down once more, arriving at Ifrit, standing upon her stool. "It appears you've arrived at my station. Pliers are easy to use, but the wielding torch will require finesse. Observe carefully as I use the pliers."   
>Ifrit took the large pliers and clamped them around a section of pipe. "You can use these to twist a pipe in or out of place. smaller pliers are used to twist wires together, or even cutting wires if you need to do twisting and cutting at once."  
>Zeva took her pliers and clamped them around the same section of pipe Ifrit had, before nodding her head. "Seems simple enough. Now, what about this?" Zeva spoke as she picked up the last tool, the wielding torch.  
>"Oh, that. A superfluous tool in my possession, but one Dyna and Theta require. You utilize the fire it produces to fuse metal together." Ifrit picked up two sheets of metal and smirked. "But my method is far faster."  
>The metal in Ifrit's hands started glowing a bright red as her gem lit up on her forehead. Soon, Ifrit threw the metal in the air, causing the plates to collide where they glowed the brightest, and snapped her left hand. The pieces of metal burst into fire before quickly cooling off, clattering to the table perfectly fused together.   
>"Show off." Theta muttered under her breath, while Dyna was clapping her large yellow hands together. "Thrilling as always Ifrit!"  
>"Woah......how'd you do that?" Zeva looked at the tiny Ruby in wonder.  
>Ifrit's smile grew wider before she spoke. "One of the benefits of being a Ruby, we all have fire powers. It's a shame they're rarely utilized in a proper manner on other colonies and ships, the vast potential being squandered is saddening to contemplate." Ifrit's face fell a bit as she thought of her fellow Rubies and how their abilities were being wasted.   
>"You enjoy this work, don't you? You want to show other gems what you can do."  
>Ifrit nodded her head. "Yeah....someday, I'll demonstrate my capabilities to my fellow Rubies, and to other gems."  
>"I hope you get the chance." Zeva then looked at Dyna and Theta. "You guys too, I hope you can show your fellow gems what could be someday."  
>Dyna and Theta both nodded their heads in agreement. After that, Zeva continued to practice with the tools on the scrap pieces around the lab, wielding and cutting and hammering things together in strange new ways for an hour while the other three gems took turns watching her.   
>After the hour, Eve returned with a smile on her face. "Zeva, your next lesson is ready! Did you enjoy your time with Theta, Dyna, and Ifrit?"   
>Zeva smilled before she replied. "Yes, I enjoyed it a lot. I'm looking forward to seeing them again." she turned to face the three technicians. "See you guys soon, I hope, I look forward to our next meeting."  
>"We're looking forward to it too" Theta called out as Zeva started walking over to Eve.  
>"W-we'll have t-to cover something more c-complicated next time." Dyna waved as she smiled, genuinely looking forward to the next time.   
>"I'll concoct a display that will really mesmerize you!" Ifrit shouted out with a grin.   
>Zeva took one last look at the technicians before she turned her attention back to Eve. "Okay, let's see what else you have for me, captain."  
>"You'll like the next one, I'm sure of it!" Eve spoke in an eager tone before she left the laboratory. Zeva followed closely behind, and the door slid shut, leaving the technicians free to resume their normal repair duties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the end part is a little dull, but can't have her jump right in to the stranger tools, now can we? Dyna, Theta, and Ifrit will of course feature in later chapters, I really like the idea of a techie Amethyst, a shy Topaz, and a intellectual Ruby. 
> 
> When I've covered more parts of the ship, I'll post some crappy doodles of the general layout of the floors of the ship. I am not an artist, so they won't be that thrilling, but hopefully they'll give a better visual layout of the ship. I actually sketched it up to help with this chapter, and it did help a lot more for this one than you'd think.


	4. Stairs to the sparring room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve leads Zeva through the ship, talking about a few of the different things onboard, and leads her to the sparring room.

>Eve led Zeva down the hallway from the laboratory. Much to Zeva's surprise, instead of stepping into the elevator, Eve started fiddling with the left side door closest to the elevator shaft instead. "Eve, why are you messing with that door? Shouldn't we get in the elevator?"  
>Eve looked at Zeva in confusion for a moment before a realization hit her. "Oh, stars, I forgot to tell you! Zeva, the elevator only goes to and from the cockpit of the ship. We have to take the stairs between the other floors. Saves us from having to go all the way up to the cockpit again just to go all the way back down."   
>"Oh, I see, that's pretty handy."  
>"You'll get used to all the stair climbing, trust me. C'mon, let's go." Eve smiled as she opened the green door, revealing a spiraling stair case, going up a floor and down a few floors.   
>Zeva quickly followed behind Eve as she started descending the stairs. Curiosity compelled her to ask about the floor above them. "Eve, what's on the floor above us? Why are we going down?"  
>Eve glanced back at Zeva with a smile. "The floor above is the floor dealing with technology. You can learn how to operate things up there, test out the latest things, and it serves as storage for our gear, and storage for technology we're transporting. You won't be going up there until much later."  
>"Why not? Shouldn't it be next, since I just saw how to repair stuff?" Zeva asked in confusion  
>Eve paused on the stairs and turned fully around and sighed. "Listen, we've gotta be careful with our technology, okay? I find that my crew can learn about how to use the technology easier once they know how to fix it. They're also less likely to break something when they know how hard certain items can be to fix."  
>Zeva thought for a moment and nodded. "That makes sense I guess. I can't wait until I can see what's up there."  
>"You'll see it someday, I'm sure of it. For now, we'll focus on what you can handle." Eve resumed walking down the stairs.   
>Eve paused briefly in front of a door. "This door leads to the Survival Simulation control room. It's very advanced stuff, very dangerous, and requires two gems to work, one in the control room, one out in the simulator itself. This is another thing you'll have to wait for, you need to be able to defend yourself from the simulated dangers and you need to know how to survive certain natural phenomena."   
>"It's a simulation, is it really that dangerous?" Zeva asked in confusion.  
>"Yes, it is. It's simulated, but the holograms are made of hard light, like our bodies. The only difference is the gem in the control room can shut the simulation down. It's still very dangerous, it takes a few moments for the override commands to set in. Gems have been poofed in there Zeva. Off of our ships, there's talk of gems being cracked or shattered in such simulations. It's why we operate it in pairs."  
>Zeva swallowed hard as she looked at the door. "I, I see. I guess I....need to know how to fight to go in there."  
>Eve smiled "Exactly! Speaking of fighting, the next step of training is covering part of that. It's the next floor down."  
>"Wait, I'm going to have to fight someone?!" Zeva exclaimed out in disbelief, her eyes widening nervously.   
>Eve let out a light chuckle. "Of course not, I wouldn't throw you into a fight the first day. I'll explain more when we get to where we're going, I promise."  
>Eve picked up her pace a little as she continued heading down the stairs, arriving at the next floor down and opening the door. Zeva hesitated as she followed Eve through the door.  
>To their left, the elevator shaft sat, quiet and still. To their right sat the rest of a long hallway, a singular door at the end of it, with five doors lining the hallway on the side opposite of the pair, and four doors along the side of the hall with the stairs. "Which room are we going to?" Zeva asked nervously.   
>"Well, on the left side of the hall is weapon storage, for all our physical weapon needs. Good for training different types of fighting. To the right are the holo combat chambers, sparring matches with simulated opponents. You're not ready for those yet. Today, we go into the main sparring room at the end of the hall, where, normally, you'd be able to fight a real opponent. Today, we're using the room for something different."   
>Eve flashed Zeva a wide smile before she turned to her right and started down the hall. Zeva looked at her curiously, still wondering what they'd be doing as she followed behind.   
>The pair entered the room. Zeva looked around briefly, noticing there was nothing and nobody inside, and realizing the flooring was softer than the other parts of the ship. She smiled as she walked along the soft floor, enjoying the way it felt under her feet.   
>Eve let out a sigh as she stopped in the middle of the room and turned to face Zeva. "Please, have a seat." she spoke out before taking a seat herself upon the floor.   
>Zeva smiled and nodded as she sat upon the soft floor, enjoying how much give it had under her.   
>"Are you comfortable?" Eve asks out, a slight hint of worry in her voice.   
>"Very much so captain, I love these floors! They're so soft and squishy! So, uh, what's this about?"  
>"Normally, this room is for sparring, it'd have equipment and people in here, and it'd be loud. The padded floors and walls are to prevent gems from being damaged. I had everyone clear out because I'm giving you your first lesson on how to summon a gem weapon."  
>"Summon a weapon? But captain, I'm just a Pearl! Do, can Pearls even summon weapons?"  
>Eve cracked a smile and let out a short laugh. "Of course they can! There are tales of renegade Pearls summoning weapons and fighting in rebellions you know. Plus, my entire crew has learned how to summon, even if they aren't typically a gem type to do so. You remember Attraction, right? The one that brought the large book to you? She can summon a weapon, Prophecy can summon one, and many others you haven't met can too. You can learn it too, if you try."  
>"Okay so.....why are we alone here? Couldn't we have done this in a corner or something?"  
>"First time summons are best done as privately as possible, It helps cut down on anxiety, embarrassment, and accidents if your weapon goes flying or fires off energy as you pull it. With just me here, there's no risk of anyone getting hurt."  
>"Oh....I see." Zeva fidgeted a moment before she spoke out again. "So, how do we start?"  
>"For today, I'm going to give you a few methods to try. Do your best to summon a weapon from your gem. Are you ready?"  
>Zeva nodded her head and fixed her eyes on Eve.  
>"I'll start with the method I use. I focus my mind on all the wonderful things I've done, and the things I want to do. This method might be hard for you, but give it a try, picture in your mind what you want to do, and go for it!" Eve demonstrated by placing her hands around her gem and closing her eyes. Her rectangular gem shined for a moment before it lit up brilliantly, causing Zeva to flinch away slightly. When the glow faded and Zeva looked back at Eve, she let out a gasp as she saw a long lance, the shaft of the lance held firmly in Eve's hands and matching her skin tone. The shaft led into a wider portion of the lance's head, a slightly darker green than the shaft, flaring out to help block incoming blows, and stretching out into a long thin point. A spiral pattern was etched into the length of the lance's head, cut shallow and painted gold, standing out from the slightly darker green.  
>Zeva took a moment to marvel at the lance before she closed her own eyes, placed her hands around her gem, and focused her thoughts on what she wanted to do. She really liked her time with Dyna, Theta, and Ifrit, she focused on herself spending more time with them. She focused on more flying lessons with Prophecy. She focused on meeting the rest of the crew, her mind wandering through the different potential gem types they could be. Try as she might, Zeva couldn't get a weapon to come from her gem.  
>Eve spoke out gently. "It's okay if that's not working, let's try something else. Some of the Quartzes onboard say just focusing on needing a weapon, visualizing a weapon in their mind or an enemy to fight, helps them summon. Maybe you can envision someone to fight, like that snobby Peridot that wanted to poof you. One of the few perks of acting like my role around other gems, getting to scare gems like HER, the ones that can't see how great gems can be even if they aren't......never mind that train of thought. This is about you summoning." Eve's cheeks flushed a dark green in embarrassment over almost going into a tirade.   
>Zeva refocused her thoughts, imagining a nice long lance like Eve's, and imagining herself using it to impale the Peridot that had tried to poof her when she first formed. Despite the many ways she envisioned that Peridot's demise, she still found herself unable to summon a weapon.  
>Eve's voice wavered a little as she spoke once more. "There's one more thing we can try. Sometimes, emptying your mind of all thoughts is all it takes to bring a weapon forward. Another vote for having this room empty, no fighting noises to distract your efforts to clear your mind. Good luck.  
>Zeva took a deep breath and started trying to brush her thoughts aside. The task was far more difficult than she had anticipated, the more thoughts she tried setting aside, the more she found popping up to take their place. After fifteen minutes of trying to clear her mind and summon a weapon, she opened her eyes and shook her head. "I'm sorry Eve, I don't think I'm going to get it today. Can we do something else? I feel a pressure inside my head, it's very annoying."  
>Eve nodded as she stood up. "Okay Zeva, we can call it here for today. I'll be in contact with some of the other crew members, they can tell you their methods for summoning weapons over the next few days. Don't feel bad about not summoning, it takes some gems a long time before they can get it. Only Quartz soldiers get it within the first three attempts. You'll succeed someday, all it'll take is time."  
>Zeva smiled as she stood up herself. "I hope you're right captain. So, where to now?"  
>A smile crossed Eve's face. "I know just what to show you next. You'll love it, I'm sure of it!" Eve started towards the entrance to the sparring room. Zeva smiled as she followed behind, looking forward to trying something else new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No weapon summoning this time, and no new crew yet. She'll meet them all eventually. I'm still thinking of names for some of them.


	5. One last set of surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eve leads Zeva down the stairs once more towards two final surprises on the ship.

>Eve led the way down the ship's hallway, away from the sparring room, Zeva following closely behind. Once more, Eve smiled as she opened the door to the staircase, stepping through and descending down the stairs.  
>The pair went down one more floor. As Eve was opening the door, Zeva noticed there was only one more floor below them and spoke up. "Eve, what's on the floor below us? Shouldn't we go down all the way?"  
>Eve turned around and shook her head before speaking. "No Zeva, not today. That floor holds the ship's engine room, the main cargo hold, and the docking bay for the smaller space fairing vessels onboard. It'll be a while before you're ready to learn about keeping the engines in top condition, but you'll be going down there soon enough for more flying practice. For now, I have two things on this floor that I think you'll enjoy greatly."  
>Zeva took one more look down the stairs before she looked back at Eve and nodded. "Alright, let's see what they are."  
>Eve's smile grew wider as she opened the door. "You might recognize it, but welcome to the main floor of the ship. It's here where the crew goes to relax while they have nothing important to do, and while we're away from gem controlled space." Eve walked down the hallway as she spoke, passing door after door, with Zeva following behind her.  
>"So what's on this floor? How does the crew relax here?"  
>Eve kept walking as she answered "An excellent question. To put it simply, each member of the crew has their own room on this floor. Their own personal space they can go to to get away from everything else and make their own. Ah, and speaking of everyone getting their own room.....here we are! This one will be yours Zeva." Eve smiled as she entered in a quick command on one of the control panels, the door sliding open, Eve stepping in with Zeva following behind.  
>Zeva gasped out in wonder as she entered the room. The space was far larger inside than the proximity of the doors would have suggested. While the room was mostly empty, a few dozen shelves lined the walls, with a large green bed sitting along the back wall. Two large green frilly pillows rested on the bed, on top of a thick green comforter. "I.....this is my room?" Zeva spoke out in disbelief.  
>"Yes, this is your room. I'm sorry it's so empty, but we'll work on that soon, I promise. You'll get the chance to pick out things to hang on the walls, or keep within for you to occupy your relaxation times."  
>"It's.....I really have my own space? I can....have things?" Zeva's mind reeled at the potential. She knew her captain, her intended master, operated things differently, but the notion of a Pearl like her having her own space and things was a radical thought for the young gem. "I....I don't know what to say, I, this is......thank you. Thank you so much!" Zeva smiled as she wrapped her large arms around the Emerald captain.  
>Eve let out a giggle as she placed her arms around the large Pearl. "You're welcome Eve. I have one more thing to show you, and then you'll be free to spend the next few days as you wish."  
>Zeva looked at Eve in confusion. "You mean there's more to see? Where is it?"'  
>"It's not far, it's on this floor actually. You'll love it, I'm sure."  
>Zeva smiled as she released Eve and nodded her head. "Alright, let's go."  
>"Now you get the idea." Eve spoke in excitement as she exited Zeva's new living space. Zeva took one more look around before she left, thinking of all the ways she might decorate her own space.  
>Eve only moved down a few doors in the hall before she stopped and placed her hands on a panel to the right. Zeva noticed that there was a lack of doors lining that side of the hall. Before she could ask Eve what was behind the door and why there weren't as many doors on this side of the hall, the door in front of Eve slid open.  
>Once more, Eve and Zeva entered the room, and once more Zeva gasped out in awe. Before her sat several dozen tall bookshelves, almost three times her height and completely filled with books from top to bottom. At the end of every bookshelf sat a small grey machine. Zeva watched as an unfamiliar Amethyst placed a thin device into the machine, then removed it a few moments later with a smile.  
>Eve looked at the wonder on Zeva's face and smiled once more. "Welcome to the ship's library. Here, we keep physical and digital books for the crew to read and learn from. Come on, I'll introduce you to the librarians."  
>Eve led Zeva towards a large desk a short distance from the entrance. Behind the desk stood a large orange gem, her white hair tied neatly into a bun behind her head, her muscles bulging under her yellow sweater top, the part of her waist visible seemed to be clad in some casual looking grey pants. A large round gem sat on the right side of her head, a transparent yellow visor sat upon her face, sitting squarely on her thin nose..  
>Above the desk fluttered a thin yellow gem. Her torso and legs were covered in a long yellow dress, her feet completely exposed. On her back were four small wings made of sand, small particles floating to the floor and flowing from the floor back up into the wings in a constant cycle. Her hair was a pale yellow and was also tied into a bun behind her hair. Her face was a stark contrast to the orange gem's, a thin rectangular gem taking the place of her nose, a transparent visor resting over her eyes and on top of her gem. The transparency of her visor gave Zeva a clear look at the gem's eyes, a yellow as bright as her skintone was.  
>The orange gem spoke out in curiosity as she saw Eve and Zeva approach. "Hey captain Eve, who's the tall gem next to you? Wait a minute, is that the Pearl you were awarded?"  
>Eve smiled as she replied. "She sure is. Let me formally introduce you. This is Zeva, our newest crew member. Zeva, these are Betty and Lilly, the librarians on the ship."  
>From above, the yellow gem fluttered down and landed next to Zeva, her height nearly matching the tall Pearl's "Oooh, she IS a tall one! It'll be nice to have someone my size around. Hiya Zeva, I'm Lilly, a Heliodor and one of the librarians." Lilly offered her left hand to Zeva with a smile.  
>Zeva nervously grasped Lilly's hand as she gave it a firm handshake. "It's n-nice to meet you Lilly. Then, sh-she's Betty?" Zeva motioned towards the large orange gem. "If you don't mind me asking, what type of gem are you?"  
>Betty let out a short chuckle before replying. "Still meeting new gem types I see. I'm a Jasper. I was meant to be a soldier, but I never liked hurting things. I take great joy in managing the physical copies of the books you see here. There's a lot of fascinating things on the pages of these books, much better to flip the pages than read it digitally."  
>Lilly gave an annoyed huff. "Excuse me? Digital books are the superior format, you can store several thousand tomes in a single device! How you fail to see the elegance of a tablet is beyond me!"  
>Eve shot both a worried look. "Now now you two, don't start this again, not today. Both methods of recording have their own charm, the point of having both is in case we need to transfer the library quickly digitally, or if the digital copies get corrupted we can reinput them with the physicals. Please, don't fight over it and help Zeva here with anything she might need."  
>Both the librarians looked down in shame. "Sorry Eve, you're right, better to have doubles just in case." "Pfft, I still like actual books better, but i guess digital has some uses."  
>"There we go! Now Zeva, you're free to read and spend the next few days however you want. If you need help, I'll be resting in my private quarters adjacent to the ship's cockpit. Don't hesitate to stop by!" Eve started out of the library with a smile on her face, confident Zeva was in good hands.  
>"Wait, before you go, I have a question." Zeva lightly touched Eve's shoulder.  
>Eve turned around and spoke gently. "Ask away, I'll answer it if I can."  
>"If the books are backed up digitally, why did you have me flip through that large heavy book to choose a name? Wouldn't it have been easier to run through a digital list of names?"  
>Eve let out a gentle laugh before she composed herself. "Is that all? The name book does exist in digital format, but we let gems use the physical one first because choosing your name is suppose to be a profound experience. Most gems agree that having to turn the pages to find a name for themselves made the experience more memorable."  
>Lilly let out a sigh. "Ah yes, the large archaic name book. I hate to say it, but it was a memorable experience, flipping through the pages to find a name I liked."  
>Betty wrinkled her nose. "That thing was massive and disorganized. It really needs to be sorted better. Alphabetized, or categorized by the thing the name is based off of at the very least."  
>Zeva thought for a moment before she nodded her head. "I guess it makes sense, I did get a rush of excitement when I found a name I liked. Thanks for answering my question."  
>"You're welcome. If you need anything else, you know where I am, and I'm sure Lilly and Betty would be happy to help you find some books to get you started. I leave her in your hands you two."  
>With that, Eve took her leave of the library, leaving Zeva there with the librarians and any other gems that were wandering around the shelves. She found herself excited about what she could find to read up on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zeva gets her own room, two more gems, more info about the ship, and setup for a chapter in the library. Zeva will get the chance to decorate in future chapters. Right now, she's still in the learning phase of her life onboard the ship.


	6. Checking out the books

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeva spends time in the library, gathering books she can learn from with the help of a few gems.

>Zeva stood near the library's desk, thinking for a moment as her eyes scanned the lines of bookshelves in the library. She found her mind reeling at the sheer number of books present, unsure of where she should start looking, or what she should pick up.  
>Thoughts ran through Zeva's mind. "Should I focus on a single subject or diversify? Would physical books be better, or should I get the digital." That line of thought causes her to gasp out, and turn around, once more facing Betty and Lilly. She hesitates for a moment as she looks at the librarians, unsure of how she should ask for what she thought of.  
>Betty notices the worried look on Zeva's face first, responding with a kind smile on her orange face. "It can be overwhelming the first time, right newbie? If you'd like, I could give you a few recommendations for physical books you could start with."  
>Lilly let out an annoyed sigh as she rubbed her yellow nose gem. "Physical books might be too much for her at first. You know some of those can be pretty heavy. Can't you think of others for once?"  
>"Oh, like your digital tablets aren't complicated to learn how to use the finer features?! You could get lost for hours reading the built in interface manuals! Needing to read to be able to read is counter productive!"  
>"You unrefined brute! I bet you like having physical books around more because it's something to throw!" Lilly shouted out, sand flowing from her wings around her fists.  
>"You elitist snob, I bet you like tablets because you're too weak to show anything off to the other upper crust gems!" Betty roared, flexing her large muscles as she barred her teeth at her fellow librarian.  
>Zeva clutched her head as she shouted out in desperation. "WILL YOU TWO STOP FIGHTING?!"  
>Both Betty the Jasper and Lilly the Heliodor looked at Zeva in surprise, neither had expected a Pearl to shout, much less at that volume. Whispered murmurs rose through the library from around the various shelves, some gems whispering about the unfamiliar voice, others snickering at how Betty and Lilly's usual fight had just been ended by yet another annoyed gem.  
>Zeva took a few nervous steps back from the desk as she realized what she just did. "I, I'm sorry, it's, I shouldn't have, I just wanted."  
>Both librarians let out a sigh, with Lilly speaking up first. "Sorry about that, me and Betty are......very passionate about our chosen forms of reading."  
>Betty rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Yeah.....sorry about that. You looked so uncertain, I wanted to help without thinking about what you wanted."  
>"It's.....it's okay. Sorry about yelling, but I don't....you guys were scaring me. I didn't want you guys coming to physical blows."  
>A brief silence fell on the group once more before Betty spoke up. "S-so, can we help you with something? Just say the word and we'll point you in the right direction."  
>"We promise, no more fighting today. We've gotta set a good example for our new crew mate after all!" Lilly added in a sheepish tone.  
>Zeva took a breath before letting out a sigh, calming down from the excitement. "Well, wh-what I wanted to ask is if there was a way to get one of those digital pads that keep getting mentioned, and if there were any books that are lightweight and small in size. I, I would like to try reading on both formats for myself, but I realize some of the books might be too large for me to carry." Zeva wrung her fingers together nervously.  
>Lilly smiled as she shifted the sand from around her hands back into her wings and fluttered into the air. "Oh, of course, you don't have a tablet yet! Hold on, I'll be right back, we've got plenty to spare!" Lilly took off into the library, vanishing in a flash.  
>Betty spoke up with a grin. "So, what types of books are you wanting to read? Found anything you really like doing yet?"  
>Zeva thought for a moment before replying. "I've only had one lesson so far, about how to use tools to fix things. Dyna, Ifrit, and Theta all seemed pretty nice."  
>"Ah yes, the technicians. Would you like books on how to fix and repair technology?"  
>"Actually, I'd like some basic stuff about other things too. I'd like to go into future lessons knowing some basics, you know? Speed things along and be able to focus on getting to know the gems onboard better."  
>Betty nods in understanding. "Admiral, and easy enough to accommodate. We keep our informational books sorted by type, easiest to understand on the lower shelves with the most complex on the top. That's why books in those sections get larger as you get higher on the shelves."  
>Zeva smiles. "Sounds like a good system. So I can stick with the lower books and not get lost while reading?"  
>"Well, you might still need help with some things, but generally it should be simple to understand."  
>"Fair enough. You think Lilly will get back with that dataplate soon? How does that thing even work anyways?"  
>"Betty lets out a sigh of annoyance before speaking. "You see the grey consoles at the end of the shelves? Each one holds data on all the books on that line of shelves. Some books are strictly confined to the library, only one copy ever being made due to size or weight. That's where....ugh, that's where the dataplates can come in handy, for the books we only have one copy of."  
>"Why Betty, it means so much to hear you say that." A chill runs through Betty's form as she heard Lilly's voice speak out, craning her head up towards the ceiling to meet the gaze of the Heliodor, a smug look plastered across her face. "I'm glad you're coming around to the digital age!"  
>Betty growled in annoyance as Lilly fluttered down to the ground, touching her feet to the floor with a thin black dataplate in her hands. "I also realize those plates are way too flimsy for their own good! They break too easily if you aren't careful!"  
>Zeva let out a polite cough. "So, that dataplate, can I have it Lilly? Betty, thanks for the advice about the books I should get. I'll grab duplicate books where I can and use the dataplate for the rest."  
>Betty and Lilly stuck their tongues out at each other before Lilly presented the plate to Zeva. "Here you go, just insert the dataplate into the device at the end of the shelf line and type in the title of the book you want downloaded to it. It's very simple, and the best part is the dataplates have a very large storage!"  
>Zeva let out a nervous laugh as she took the dataplate from Lilly. "Hahaha, yeah, I'll probably stick to a few books to start. Don't want to get overwhelmed, you know? Thanks for the dataplate. I'll let you two know if I need more help."  
>Betty spoke up. "Wait, be sure to bring the physical books up here before you leave! You've gotta record which ones you take with us, so we know who to see if a book stays gone for too long."  
>Zeva gave a quick wave and a nod with her reply "Okay, I'll be back when I'm ready to leave!" before leaving the main library desk.  
>With a dataplate in hand and a general goal in mind, Zeva began scanning the shelves, noting each section was labeled for what it held. She started along the edge, picking up a book on how to use other types of tools, a book on basic footwork for fights, a small book detailing discontinued gem technology, one on methods of meditation, and a book of survival skills. Zeva hummed to herself as she pulled duplicates off the shelf where she could, and used her tablet where duplicates weren't available.  
>Still, Zeva felt like something was missing. Like that was something else she needed to do. She paused at one of the tables in the library, looking over her selection of books once more, but unable to pinpoint what she was lacking. "I know there's something else I should get while I'm here, but what?" Zeva muttered to herself as she became lost in thought.  
>Zeva lost track of how long she had been sitting at the table when a giggle coming from beside her snapped her out of her thoughts. She quickly turned her attention towards the left and the noise, only to find nobody was there. Another giggle sounded from the right, causing Zeva to turn and look again, still finding nobody there when she looked. An uneasy feeling began settling into Zeva's gut as she whispered to herself. "Maybe I've been here too long, I think I'm hearing things."  
>"You aren't hearing things, I'm right behind you!" A giddy voice called out behind her, causing Zeva to jump up in surprise before she turned around, her body tensing up as she moved.  
>Before Zeva stood a green gem, shorter than Eve but still a decent height. Her hair was a forest green color, tied into three pigtails shaped into distinct club like shapes upon her head, one on the right side, one on the left, and one drooping behind her head. Her skin was a few shades lighter than her hair, her green eyes shining bright with excitement. Her body was clad in a strange assortment of garb, a long sleeved white shirt covered her upper torso, the sleeves running down her arms to her hands into two large green gloves matching her hair color. Upon the back of her right hand sat her gem, lighter in color than her glove but darker than her skin, shaped in the same pattern her pigtails were. The lower portion of her body was clad in a dress matching the color of her hair and gloves, stretching from her waist and drooping down her legs, ending a few inches over her feet, covered in a pair of thin green slippers. Two overall straps were connected to the dress portion, the straps looping around her shoulders, the shining white buckles fastened and holding her dress in place.  
>The strange gem offered up her large gloved left hand towards Zeva with a smile. "Hiya, I'm Jill, who are you?"  
>Zeva began to calm down as she looked at the green gem's offered up hand. Zeva cracked a nervous smile as she grasped Jills hand with her own. "H-hi, it's nice to meet you. I'm Zeva. What.....where did you come from? Why did you sneak up on me?"  
>Jill rubbed the back of her head with her right hand as she released Zeva's left hand. "Sorry, old habit, didn't mean to scare you. I'm a Spinel, we're kinda made to be pranksters and for playing games."  
>Zeva looked at Jill the Spinel with uncertainty. "So....is that what you do? Play games with gems aboard the ship?"  
>"Oh stars no, not all the time! Actually, I go around filling in for gems when they need a break, sorta drift between tasks you know? A go to gal when people need an extra hand!" Jill waved her left hand around and twisted her arm into a loop for emphasis. "My main areas are technology advancement and engine maintenance! Faster engines and better technology lets us finish tasks faster and lets the crew smile more you see, my way of staying true to my roots while doing what I love!"  
>"That sounds nice, I didn't know we were allowed to float between all the jobs, I thought we were meant to pick one or two at the end of training."  
>"Well you are, but I'm the restless sort, ya know? Who knows, maybe you could be a floater with me! You certainly got enough books to be one!" Jill smiled as she gestured to the books and the dataplate.  
>"Right, I was just sitting here trying to figure out what I'm missing. I have survival, combat, technology, tools, and meditation here, but it feels like something is missing."  
>Jill hummed to herself as she looked over to Zeva and then back to the books a few times. Suddenly it hit her. "Oooh, I know what you're missing Zeva! You're still in your Pearl outfit! Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I imagine you've not tried out other outfits, right?"  
>Zeva paused for a moment, her eyes widening in realization. "You, you're right, I haven't! That's what I was missing, a personalized look! Thank you! Now I've just got to find some books on outfits."  
>Zeva started to stand up from the table, when Jill's right hand pressed up against her chest and her gem. "Woah woah, no need to look for it, I'll get you the perfect starting book!"  
>Jill's left arm stretched out and coiled through the air towards one of the shelves, a smile plastered on her face as she pulled a large one from near the top of the shelf, her arm retracting and untwisting as she brought the book gently back towards herself and Zeva. "Here, this one is perfect, it has a lot of simple designs in it! Don't worry about getting a digital copy for this one, most gems on board have already picked their look and rarely change!"  
>Zeva smiled as she looked at Jill. "Thank you again. I hope I see you around again sometime. Maybe you can tell me more about specific jobs?"  
>Jill bounced in glee, tiny squeaks coming out of her body as she did. "Sure sure, I'd love to! Maybe after the next mission we go on, we can meet up here!"  
>"Mission? What do you mean?" Zeva asked in confusion.  
>"Oh, you don't know yet? Usually after returning to gem space we get a mission within a few days. Most of the time we get to go alone, but sometimes other gem crews join us. Those aren't as fun, we have to perform our normal roles during those." Jill's face fell a little as she spoke.  
>"Oh, I see. I guess I won't be going on missions yet either way, since I'm still in training. Gotta learn this stuff fast, right?" Zeva gave Jill a playful nudge at the end of her sentence.  
>Jill cracks into a giggle."Yeah, yeah I guess you'll be fine. Enjoy the books." Jill begins to walk away as she finishes speaking.  
>"Thank you for the assistance on the fashion book. See you around Jill."  
>"Probably sooner than you think!" Jill shouted enthusiastically before bouncing off, leaving Zeva with all the books she wanted to start with. She quickly headed to the library's desk, placed her books in Betty's hands, got them recorded in the system, and picked the books back up off the desk as Betty set them down. With the books checked out, Zeva was free to leave the library and read at her leisure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for the Spinel character came to me in a dream. It seemed like a shame to let her go to waste, and I saw her interacting with Zeva, so here she is, Jill the Spinel. Like the rest of the crew, you'll see her more in future chapters and get a brief story about her.


	7. Back to her room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeva leaves the library with her books and datapad and returns to her room to look through them

>Zeva made her way out of the library and through the hall of the ship back towards her room, her books and new dataplate tucked under here arm. She hummed to herself as she messed with the control panel next to her room's door, contemplating what book she wanted to start with. She had enough to choose from after all, a physical and digital book on each subject she had selected, except one.  
>Zeva sighed as the door to her room opened, absentmindedly looking at the fashion book, then at her frilly blue leotard with the transparent black lace around her shoulders, at her black stockings and shoes. "I guess I should find something more comfortable to learn in. Maybe I should ask Eve for a mirror." Zeva thought to herself as she stepped into her room.  
>Zeva gasped out in surprise as she looked in her room. Standing next to her green bed was a tall mirror, not quite her height but still very tall. Attached to it was a piece of paper written in gem script. Curiosity took hold of her mind as she slowly walked across her room. "A mirror? But who, how, when?"  
>Zeva put the books and her dataplate on her bed gently before she pulled the note off of the mirror. A smile crossed her face as she read what the note said. "Zeva, shortly after I left you in the library, I realized you might want something to help you choose a new look for yourself! I went to get the largest mirror we had in storage and brought it to your room personally. Don't feel pressured about changing your look if you don't want to, this is just to give you a choice. Have fun with the books you likely checked out! ~Eve, your friend and captain~"  
>"She's really on top of things, isn't she? I'm glad I was made for her instead of another gem." Zeva whispered out lout before she refocused her attention. With a mirror in her room, she knew exactly what she wanted to do first.  
>Zeva sat down upon her bed, picking the fashion book up gently and carefully turning the pages. Upon the pages was a collection of strange garments, each one worn by strange beings Zeva had never seen before, their bodies colored in many hues and their clothes just as colorful. She made the assumption they were either gems or aliens and didn't dwell too much on them, instead focusing on what each one was wearing.  
>The first page that caught Zeva's attention was a page filled with beings in simple outfits, their bodies clad in very little material, weapons in their hands. "Must be the garb of a warrior. I wonder if Eve and Attraction shift into outfits like these on missions?" she thought to herself before she closed her eyes and focused her mind on the outfit style she wanted to try.  
>The gem on Zeva's chest glowed brightly as her Pearl outfit shifted. The frills and the stockings vanished first, the leotard splitting apart at her stomach, the material reshaping, recoloring and reforming around her body. Tight thin black shorts formed around her waist, the leggings barely covering half of her upper legs. Upon her chest formed tight blue wrappings, clinging tightly to her almost flat chest, her gem barely peaking out above the wrappings. On her hands black wrappings appeared, forming gloves and covering her wrists and her palms but nothing else. She decided she liked her shoes the way they were, they were comfortable to move around in and she didn't want to change them yet.  
>Zeva took a good look at herself, then shivered. She didn't mind how the outfit looked on her, but how she felt was another matter. "Cold, way too cold. I can feel the air brushing against my form. How could anyone stand this. Nope, another outfit, quick!" she whispered to herself.  
>Zeva turned a few more pages before she arrived at a familiar sight. The beings on this page were wearing labcoats and long pants, holding scientific tools in their hands. "This looks similar to what Theta, Dyna, and Ifrit were wearing. I did like spending time with them. Let's give this a try."  
>Once more Zeva's gem glowed, her mind focused on how she wanted to look. The blue bandages on her chest expanded, the material stretching out to cover more of her body, forming a short sleeved shirt. The black shorts on her legs lengthened out, the material stretching to cover the entirety of her legs, ending right above her black slippers. Over her long sleeved blue shirt, a thick green lab coat took form, the tail of the coat coming down to her knees, the sleeves covering her arms entirely, ending at the black gloves she was still wearing. Zeva thought for a moment about the gloves and decided she liked the idea of covering a part of her hands. The material of the gloves thinned down, shifting from simple wrappings to a solid piece of cloth, still only covering her palms and wrists.  
>Zeva took another look in the mirror and sighed, giving herself a little twirl. "This is better, but do I want to wear this? It might give gems the impression I've picked what I want to do already. It was fun learning about tools, but I've only begun learning."  
>Zeva looked herself over one more time, deciding she didn't want to keep the lab coat. Her gem glowed again as the green coat began to fade away. An idea came to her in the middle of her coat phasing away. The green material phased into her existing clothing, the black pants she was wearing took on stripes of green running vertically down her legs. The blue shirt lengthened out in the sleeves, the blue slowly transitioning to green the further the sleeves traveled up her body. Her shoes and gloves remained the same pure black.  
>Zeva smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror again, moving her arms and legs around to get a feel for her movement range, finding herself able to move easily in her new outfit. She let out a sigh of contentment as she whispered to herself. "This is perfect to start with. I can adjust my look again when I choose what I want to do aboard the ship." Then a thought crossed her mind. "Should I go show Eve? She did put the mirror in my room? But,she probably needs time to herself too. I'll wait until we get a mission to show her, Jill did say one should be coming in a few days."  
>Smiling and content with her new look, Zeva turned her attention back to the pile of books on her bed, sitting down on the soft mattress as she sat the fashion book aside and started to consider what book she wanted to look at next. She hoped she could get through them all before she had to attend to anything else official on the ship or off of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been long enough, she needed a new look, closer to the form she takes in the main series. We'll get to that look eventually.


	8. An unexpected visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeva's time reading her books is interrupted by a knock at her door.

>Zeva spent the next two days in her room, coming through the books she had checked out at a rapid pace, pouring over the information within and committing it to her memory. The books on meditation and the uses for basic tools were easy enough for her to memorize, and the books on basic survival skills and basic combat techniques were fairly easy to understand other than a few areas she couldn't quite comprehend, but she found herself struggling to understand the book on discontinued Homeworld technology, particularly how any of it could have possibly been operated safely.  
>"I can see why some of this stuff was discontinued, building this stuff looks complicated. I get why Eve didn't want me messing with technology yet, it must take a lot of patience and skill to repair this stuff." Zeva muttered to herself, thinking back to Ifrit, Dyna, and Theta. Where she had once been excited to get into repairing things, she now found herself weary of the prospect. "Still hafta learn it, knowing how to repair things might be crucial to me someday. I won't give up on any of this."  
>Zeva was snapped out of her thoughts by a loud knock on her door. A thought passed through her head as she moved from her bed to the door to open it. "Curious, I wonder who that is? Maybe it's Eve checking in? Oh, or maybe Betty's here to get the physical books back? I never asked her how long I could keep them before the books would be considered gone too long."  
>Upon opening the door, Zeva found herself face to face with Prophecy, the Sapphire's one eye level with her two, her tiny blue body floating off the ground. The shock of being at eye level with the blue gem made Zeva take a few steps back in disbelief. "What, how, Prophecy? Wh-what are you doing here?"  
>Prophecy let out a light giggle before she spoke out. "Sorry, I couldn't resist seeing this reaction firsthand. Ah, but for why I'm here, we will be getting a call from Homeworld shortly. You'll be needed in the cockpit. You'll need to stand next to Eve during this call, it's important."   
>"O-oh, I see. I'll go to the cockpit then, thanks. Wait, if you're here-"  
>"Attraction is piloting the ship right now. Go now, quickly, you don't want to be late for the call. I'll see you again very soon, I promise." With those words, Prophecy floated off down the hall. Zeva looked at her for a moment as she opened the door to the stairway before she shook it off. She had her own destination to get to. Moving down the hall as fast as she could, she made her way to the elevator shaft and activated it.   
>The elevator hummed lightly as it carried Zeva up to the top floor, the ship's cockpit. As the elevator stopped moving, she could see Eve moving towards the elevator at a quick pace. She took note that her captain was wearing the same outfit she had been when they first met, the standard uniform with a Yellow Diamond insignia on her chest, her thick shoulder pads back on her form, and her golden crown on her head.   
>As Zeva stepped out of the elevator, Eve gave her a quick hug, her head resting against Zeva's chest gem for a brief moment before she broke away. "It's nice to see you again, I love what you've done with your outfit! Unfortunately, I need you to shift back to your default for a moment. We can catch up a little after the call is done, okay?"  
>Zeva hesitated for a moment before she nodded her head. She took a long look at herself, committing her outfit to memory before she closed her eyes, her gem lighting up as her outfit glowed in unison. As she reshifted her outfit on her body, an idea came to her. The frills and stockings came back quickly, her gloves vanished, her pants disappeared and receded into her standard Pearl leotard. As the glow faded and her outfit started to take color, Zeva focused her mind on what she wanted to do. Instead of the light blue and black her outfit had been, her leotard, shoes, and stockings took on a proper light green shade, a stark contrast against her dark green skin tone, but it matched the shade of Eve's standard outfit perfectly.   
>The glow fully receded, leaving Eve dumbfounded for a moment as Zeva spoke. "You said make it my default, but my default was......not well received by that Peridot. I hope this will be liked by whoever is calling."  
>"Zeva it's.....it'll help more than you know. Thank you, and I'm sorry you have to do this at all."  
>"I don't mind, we have to do what we can to stay how we are, right? C'mon, let's get to that call, it should be coming in soon, right?"  
>"Right.....let's get this over with as quickly as possible." With that, Eve started walking towards the communications console, Zeva following close behind her. As Eve arrived at the console, a notification of an incoming call popped up, framed within a Yellow Diamond. "Here we go." Eve muttered under her breath as she waited a few seconds, then touched the pop-up to answer the call.   
>The pop-up expanded into a larger screen, glowing a bright yellow hue for a moment as the picture started coming into focus. As the image became clearer, Eve flinched a little, and Zeva did her best to stifle a gasp. Upon the live feed before them, the face of Yellow Diamond gazed directly at the pair.   
>Eve quickly threw her arms into a salute, Zeva copying her motion a split second behind. Eve spoke out in a calm and confident tone. "My Radiant Diamond, it is a pleasure to be contacted by you once more. I am at your humble command."  
>On the other end of the screen, Yellow Diamond rolled her eyes at Eve, then glanced towards Zeva. Her eyes lingered on the Pearl for a moment, creating a sensation of dread in Zeva's guts as worries ran through her mind. "Oh no, she's staring at me, changing my outfit wasn't enough, was it? Please, please don't let my size or my hair get Eve in trouble."  
>Yellow Diamond let out a brief hum, then turned her gaze back towards Eve. "Emerald Facet 6RD Cut 3VE, your new assignment is a simple matter. You are to scout out a planet and send me all the data you can about it, and evaluate how dangerous the life on the surface is. The co-ordinates will be sent to your ship's pilot shortly after this transmission ends, along with the scan results from the surface. Is that clear?"  
>"Yes my Diamond, it is clear. The planet will be scouted as quickly and thoroughly as possible."  
>"Good. I expect your efforts to be as flawless as they always are. That will be all." With two loud claps, the feed cut off.   
>Eve breathed a deep sigh of relief before her naval gem glowed, her outfit glowing shortly after and shifting into her usual frilly green dress. "That went better than expected. Zeva, thank you for changing your outfit and standing with me. You can change back when you're ready.   
>"Thank you Eve. I'm sorry I couldn't do more.......I saw how her eyes lingered on me."  
>"Don't worry about that. As long as I continue getting the results Yellow Diamond desires, she won't bother acting on your.......uniqueness. She doesn't care what gems do, as long as they don't oppose her or Homeworld openly and still complete the expected tasks." Eve's attention turned towards the ship's helm and attraction. "Attraction, did those files come through?"  
>"They certainly have! I've already sent the data to your personal console, and fed the co-ordinates into the ship's navigational system, nyehehe."  
>A smile crossed Eve's face. "Then we're all set. I'll be planning the mission out based on the preliminary scans, and contacting the crew about the details when we arrive at our destination." Eve turned her attention back towards Zeva, a smile still on her face. "I'd normally tell you to relax while we're doing these missions, but Prophecy mentioned something about how I wouldn't need her, and how she has something in mind for you. I expect she'll be getting you shortly. Try to enjoy whatever she's setting up for you, alright?"  
>Zeva looked at Eve with uncertainty for a moment before she nodded her head. "Yeah, s-sure, sounds fun."  
>"Good. I'll talk to you more after the mission is done, okay? I really did love the outfit you created. I can't wait to get a better look at it." With that, Eve turned away from Zeva, and headed into her private quarters attached to the ship's cockpit. Zeva caught the briefest look inside as Eve stepped into the room, spotting a brown frame around some sort of pink picture, but she couldn't make it out before the door closed behind her captain.  
>Zeva let out a little sigh before she closed her eyes, her gem glowing again as she focused on the look she wanted, the leotard and tights shifting back into the long pants and long sleeved shirt she had been wearing, vertical black stripes forming upon the green leggings as they shifted into pants, her leotard changing from green to light blue as it shifted back into her shirt. She smiled as her black gloves reformed upon her hands, leaving the tips of her fingers exposed but covering her palms and wrists once more.   
>The glow faded from her body just in time for the elevator to hum to life, arriving at the top floor, the doors opening for Prophecy, but the Sapphire didn't budge, instead she looked directly at Zeva and spoke in a clear tone. "No doubt Eve has told you about what I told her. If you'd come with me, we can get into position just as the ship arrives at our destination."  
>Zeva gave a quick nod to the Sapphire before she rushed over to the elevator and stepped into it. Prophecy cracked a smile as the doors closed as the elevator traveled down the shaft. She might have foreseen what was coming, but she was still looking forward to what she had planned.


	9. Going through the lower levels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prophecy and Zeva make their way through the lowest parts of the ship.

>The elevator hummed to a stop at the bottom of the shaft. Prophecy hummed as she stepped out of the elevator, while Zeva took a bewildered look at her surroundings. The room was wide open around her, five glowing orbs fixated around the room, tubes snaking out from them and heading up to the ceiling of the room, as well as snaking along the ground, or in the case of the orbs near the walls, going directly into the walls. Zeva found herself wondering what the orbs were and what they did.   
>"Those are the power orbs that power the ship. As long as two remain functioning, the ship has ample power to fly." Prophecy spoke out, answering the question on Zeva's mind.   
>"Right, thanks Prophecy." Zeva spoke, while thinking to herself. "I know she's a Sapphire, but I wish she'd let me ask the question first. It's creepy that she answers them before I ask."   
>The pair walk through the room, Prophecy leading the way. She smiles as she floats over the cables, her boots hovering inches above them. Behind her, Zeva struggles to keep her balance as she walks.   
>"There's a set of doors near the elevator shaft that lead to the engines themselves. You've already met one of the gems that works on the engines, keeping them in perfect order. You'll meet the others in due time. Through the doors ahead of us lays the cargo bay, the last thing between us and our true destination." Prophecy speaks once more, surprising Zeva. "I......didn't have any question on my mind that time. Is she......offering up things she thinks I'll ask, or just offering the information normally?"  
>The pair arrive at a large set of doors, Prophecy pulling them open with her tiny blue hands after a short amount of time pulling. "The cargo bay is where we hold our new supplies, or supplies we're transporting between worlds when we need to. For now, the bay is mostly empty, the only thing down here is some emergency supply crates, just in case......."  
>"Just in case what?" Zeva asked in curiosity as she looked around the mostly empty room, spotting a few crates in the corners of the room closest to the doors directly across the cargo bay.   
>Prophecy let out a sigh as her feet touched the ground, her boots letting out a heavy echo as she stopped floating and started walking again. "In case we have to.....escape suddenly. Through those doors is the ship's docking bay, filled with Roaming Eyes and smaller fighter crafts intended for defending the ship from enemy vessels, or for exterminating dangerous surface organics on planets. If the worst should come, we'd grab the supplies we could, take as many smaller ships as we could, and flee."  
>"An emergency plan? Can't you......" Zeva started to ask.  
>"See the future?" Prophecy finished for her. "Yes, but I have limits. My visions are based on the predictable, the things most likely to happen. I CAN'T see certain events, like impulse decisions, or.....or if someone decides to act against what they normally would do. Such things send the future into unknown territory."  
>Zeva looks at the small blue gem with surprise, a twinge of sympathy for her welling up in the large Pearl's form. "It must be difficult for you, knowing what's likely to come, but not knowing if it'll really happen. I'm.....sorry you have to bear that burden."  
>Prophecy turns around, her one eye slightly widened in surprise for a moment before a smile crosses her face. "I....thank you, Zeva. I didn't.....you're more insightful than I foresaw. It seems I'll need to keep a closer eye on you and your future. Now please come, the docking bay awaits. We'll be taking an outdated fighter, one that's scheduled to be repurposed and replaced soon."  
>Zeva nodded her head as she watched Prophecy open the door to the docking bay, the heavy doors swinging open slowly. Within the bay, ships were lined up neatly by type. "They're arranged from oldest to newest. Newest up front, oldest near the back. This way." Prophecy speaks and motions towards the right.   
>Zeva follows closely behind Prophecy, her longer legs making it easy to keep up with the Sapphire. Soon the pair came to a sleek ship, smaller in nature, a dull grey hue with flakes of green upon the hull, a stark contrast to the rest of the ships in the hanging bay, most of them still a vibrant green, or at least a mostly solid coat upon their hulls. "This is the one. We're going for another flying lesson today. You up for it?" Prophecy turned to Zeva, her eye fixated on the tall Pearl expectantly.   
>Zeva realized she was being given a choice. She briefly wondered if Prophecy had already foreseen her answer before shrugging it off. It didn't matter if the Sapphire knew what her answer would be,she'd still give it. "Yes, I'm up for it. Thanks for giving me another lesson."  
>Prophecy smiled as she opened the ship's cockpit up, revealing four seats. One at the front where the controls were, two to the sides, with panels in front of them, wires leading to the sides of the ship, where Zeva took notice of two separate weapon systems on the ship, and the last chair turned around and facing the engine. Prophecy climbed into the rear facing seat. "Go ahead. Take the pilot's chair."  
>Nervously, Zeva climbed into the cockpit, strapping herself in as she got comfortable. She eyes the controls in front of her warily.   
>"You start it the same way as the main ship. Stick your hands in the panel, and you'll know what to do from there." Prophecy spoke in an even tone.   
>Zeva nodded as she stuck her hands in the panel. Once more, numbers and information flooded her mind, instructions on how to move and what to push to get the ship moving becoming known to her in an instant. Cautiously, she started the ship up. The ship shook for a few moments on the hanger floor before it lifted into the air, wavering a bit as it stabilized under Zeva's command.   
>"I'll send the command to open the bay doors, and then we'll go to the planet below to start the lesson properly." Prophecy spoke with a little excitement in her voice. Despite her future vision showing her the general look of the world, she was still excited to see it for herself, to see if it lived up to expectations.   
>A small section of the bay door slid open before Zeva's eyes, wide enough to fit three of her ship through at once. "When you're ready, take the ship out the doors into space.   
>Nervousness and excitement welled up within the Pearl. Steeling her nerves, excitement won out as Zeva maneuvered the ship through the bay, carefully avoiding the other ships still resting upon the ground, and making her way towards the doors to head into space. She wasn't sure what awaited her in space or on the unknown world the main ship was now orbiting, but she was going to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Putting this story on an official hiatus. I needed to put a few on official hold so I wouldn't feel guilty about leaving them unupdated for longer periods. I will come back to this, I promise.


End file.
